Form II Verbs

We leave Form I verbs (at least for a while) and come now to the first group of what are called “derived” verbs. As noted earlier, there are fifteen forms of the Arabic verb. It is essential that Forms I-X be learned thoroughly; however, Forms XI-XV need never be learned.

Forms II-XV are known collectively as derived verbs because they are usually based on Form I verbs.For example, the verb ذَكَرَ is a Form I verb meaning “to remember” or “to mention.”ذَكَرَ is a Form II verb meaning “to remind,” and ذاكرَ is a Form III verb meaning “to study (long)” and “to commit to memory.” Forms II and III can easily be traced to the root made up of the three consonants dhaal, kaaf, and raa’. They are said to be derived from these consonants which give us the Form I verb ذَكَرَ. Be aware that a Form I verb does not usually exist in all fifteen or even ten forms. It may exist only as a Form I, or only one or two other forms may be derived from it. Sometimes a verb does exist in a number of forms. In addition, sometimes a trilateral root (a root made up of three consonants), does not exist in Form I but does exist in derived forms.

The distinguishing feature of a Form II verb from a Form I verb is that a shadda is placed over the middle radical in Form II. Usually some sort of meaning is associated with the forms and some texts go into great detail on this issue. For Form II verbs, the change in meaning from Form I is usually that if the Form I version is intransitive such as كَثُرَ “to be numerous”, the Form II is transitive as in كَثّرَ “to make numerous.” On the other hand, if the Form I verb is already transitive, then the Form II is usually causative, as in the example for ذَكّرَ above. In Form I it means “to remember” but in Form II it means “to remind,” that is, to cause someone else to remember something.

Some Good News

In the past tense, Form II sound verbs conjugate exactly as Form I sound verbs. There is no difference whatsoever. So conjugation for these verbs in the past tense should not be a problem. Furthermore, all of the subcategories of Form II verbs, except the defectives, all conjugate in the past tense just like sound verbs, This means, for example, that there is no need to shorten the middle radical for hollow verbs. So these verbs should be no problem either. Examples are given below. The same is true for the present tense. In this chapter we will treat each subcategory individually but will treat both tenses for the subcategory at the same time.

Sound Verbs

As stated above, in the past tense, Form II sound verbs conjugate just as Form I sound verbs do. Below, for the record, are the past tense conjugations for ذَكَّرَ.

Plural

Dual

Singular

ذَكَّرْنا

نَحْنَ

ذَكَّرْتُما

أنتُما

ذَكَّرْتُ

أنا

ذَكَّرْتم

أنتُم

ذَكَّرا

هما (m)

ذَكَّرْتَ

أنتَ

ذَكَّرْتٌنَّ

أنتُنَّ

ذَكَّرَتا

هما (f)

ذَكَّرْتِ

أنتِ

ذَكَّروا

هم

ذَكَّرَ

هو

ذَكَّرْنَ

هنَّ

ذَكَّرَتْ

هي

As you can see, there is no difference, in terms of the conjugations, between Form II and Form I sound verbs. Of course, in Form II there is a shadda over the middle radical. Also, in Form II, the stem vowel in the past tense is always a fatha. So, for example, the verb شَرِبَ meaning “to drink” exists in Form II as شَرَّبَ which means “to give someone something to drink.”

In the present tense, the verb ذَكَّرَ is يُذَكِّرُ in the third person masculine singular. Note the differences here between the Form II present and the Form I present. In Form II the prefix begins with a yaa’ just as in Form I, but the vowel with the yaa’ is a dhamma instead of a fatha as in Form I. As you know, the vowel used in the prefixes of Form I verbs is always a fatha. For Form II, the vowel used in the prefixes is always a dhamma. The consonants of the prefixes, as you will see, are exactly the same in Form II as in Form I. In fact, they will be the same for all verbs irrespective of form.

Now look at the first radical of يُذَكِّرُ There is a fatha placed over it instead of a sukuun as in Form I. Look at the stem vowel. The stem vowel is a kasra. This is the way all (that means all ) Form II verbs are conjugated for every person. The first radical always has a fatha and the stem vowel is always a kasra. There is no guessing about the stem vowel in Form II verbs. You will see that in each of the derived forms, thestem vowel is completely predictable. Now take a look at the present tense conjugations for ذَكَّرَ, يُذَكِّرُ below.

Plural

Dual

Singular

نَذَكِّرُ

نَحْنَ

تُذَكِّرانِ

أنتُما

أُذَكِّرُ

أنا

تُذَكِّرونَ

أنتُم

يُذَكِّرانِ

هما (m)

تُذَكِّرُ

أنتَ

تُذَكِّرْنَ

أنتُنَّ

تُذَكِّرانِ

هما (f)

تُذَكِّرينَ

أنتِ

يُذَكِّرونَ

هم

يُذَكِّرُ

هو

يُذَكِّرْنَ

هنَّ

تُذَكِّرُ

هي

First look at the prefixes. As stated above, the consonants of the prefixes are all the same ones as in Form I. Each of the consonants is followed immediately by a dhamma as we said above. The stem vowel is always a kasra.

Now look at the suffixes. Lo and behold! They are the same as for Form I. They will be the same for every verb in the language. No difference. Viva la sameness. Once you can conjugate one Form II verb, you can conjugate every Form II verb. Once you can conjugate one Form III verb, you can conjugate every Form III verb, and so on.

The jussive is produced, as you might guess, just as it is in Form I. The principle of “cutting off’ applies in exactly the same ways. Here are the jussive conjugations for يُذَكّرُ , ذَكّرَ

Plural

Dual

Singular

نَذَكِّرْ

نَحْنَ

تُذَكِّرا

أنتُما

أُذَكِّرْ

أنا

تُذَكِّروا

أنتُم

يُذَكِّرا

هما (m)

تُذَكِّرْ

أنتَ

تُذَكِّرْنَ

أنتُنَّ

تُذَكِّرا

هما (f)

تُذَكِّري

أنتِ

يُذَكِّروا

هم

يُذَكِّرْ

هو

يُذَكِّرْنَ

هنَّ

تُذَكِّرْ

هي

As you can see, there is no problem producing the jussive for these verbs.

Hollow Verbs

Hollow verbs in Form II are completely regular. If the middle radical is a waaw it shows up in all of the past and present tense conjugations as a regular consonant. The same is true if the middle radical is a yaa’. For example, look at the sample conjugations below for the verb يُزَوِّرُ , زَوَّرَ (“to forge”).

Jussive

Present

Past

Pronoun

تُزَوِّرْ

تُزَوِّرُ

زَوَّرْتَ

أنتَ

As you can see, the waaw is never shortened. If the middle radical in the example above were a yaa’, as in the case of the verb , يُعينُ , عَيّنَ (“to appoint”), it would never be shortened either.

Assimilated Verbs

The waaw in assimilated verbs in Form II always remains and acts as a regular consonant. For example يُوفقُ , وَفّقُ shows that the waaw remains in the imperfect and is pronounced as a consonant.

Doubled Verbs

Doubled verbs in Form II are also completely regular. The middle and last consonants are separated and a shadda is then placed over the middle consonant. For example, the Form I verb يَرُدُّ , رَدَّ becomes يَرُدّدُ , رَددَّ in Form II. You never have to worry about what to with the doubled radical in Form II.

Defective Verbs

I have saved the best for last. Defective verbs in Form II are simpler than they are in Form I, but they are not quite as simple as their other Form II colleagues. Here we will use the verb يُسمّي , سَمّى (“to name”) as our example.

In the past tense, all Form II defective verbs conjugate just as يَجري , جَرى does in the past. In the present tense they also conjugate like a يَجري , جَرى (Of course the prefix vowel will still be a dhamma and there will still be a shadda over the middle radical.) So if you know that verb, you can conjugate any Form II defective. Below is the verb يُسمّي , سَمّى conjugated for the past, present, and jussive. Following the charts is some stimulating commentary.

Past

Plural

Dual

Singular

سَمَّيْنا

نَحْنَ

سَمَّيْتُما

أنتُما

سَمَّيْتُ

أنا

سَمَّيْتُم

أنتُم

سَمَّيا

هما (m)

سَمَّيْتَ

أنتَ

سَمَّيْتُنَّ

أنتُنَّ

سَمَّتا

هما (f)

سَمَّيْتِ

أنتِ

سَمَّوْا

هم

سَمَّى

هو

سَمَّيْنَ

هنَّ

سَمَّتْ

هي

Present

Plural

Dual

Singular

نُسَمِّي

نَحْنَ

تُسَمِّيانِ

أنتُما

أُسَمِّي

أنا

تُسَمِّونَ

أنتُم

يُسَمِّيانِ

هما (m)

تُسَمِّي

أنتَ

تُسَمِّينَ

أنتُنَّ

تُسَمِّيانِ

هما (f)

تُسَمِّينَ

أنتِ

يُسَمِّونَ

هم

يُسَمِّي

هو

يُسَمِّينَ

هنَّ

تُسَمِّي

هي

Jussive

Plural

Dual

Singular

نُسَمِّ

نَحْنَ

تُسَمِّيا

أنتُما

أُسَمِّ

أنا

تُسَمِّوا

أنتُم

يُسَمِّيا

هما (m)

تُسَمِّ

أنتَ

تُسَمِّينَ

أنتُنَّ

تُسَمِّيا

هما (f)

تُسَمِّي

أنتِ

يُسَمِّوا

هم

يُسَمِّ

هو

يُسَمِّينَ

هنَّ

تُسَمِّ

هي

Note that if the jussive conjugations above were unvocalized, many of them would look like jussive conjugations for Form I hollow, doubled, and assimilated verbs. In fact, some of these jussive conjugations would look like present tense conjugations for doubled and assimilated Form I verbs. You will have to learn to read these verbs from context.

In fact, since most Arabic texts have no vocalization whatsoever, many words, especially verbs, can have a number of different readings. Context is the only way to determine which reading to give the word. The past tense conjugations of سَمّى will always look like Form I conjugations of verbs such as جرى. The present tense conjugations of سَمّى will also look like the present tense conjugations of جرى Conjugations of سَمّى can also be read in other ways.

The problem of the many possible readings of a verb will be addressed in detail in Chapter Four. For now, you must learn all conjugations thoroughly so that the section Chapter Four dealing with this subject will be perfectly clear to you. This is a very important subject for Americans learning Arabic. You must learn your conjugations as we go through the text, not just so that my comments on this matter will be fully appreciated when you get to Chapter Four, but also so that you will become able to read Arabic at a rate faster than my cat. Otherwise you will have extraordinary difficulty with this language. I know this sounds harsh, but it is true. If you have not learned the conjugations presented so far, go back and review them before you go on to Drill 27.

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